Perth, Western Australia has long been a destination for ships of the United
States Navy and amongst these visiting ships are the carriers of the Pacific
Fleet. Local enthusiasts eagerly await these visits and look upon them as a
means of catching up with the latest developments in naval aviation.

The
stern of
USS
John C. Stennis
(Click to Enlarge)

The USS John C Stennis and the aircraft of Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW 9) were
the latest visitors to our shores and I was I was fortunate enough to be given a
pass for a tour of the ship. I spent the whole afternoon aboard happily taking
photographs and buying patches from the squadron ready rooms.

The Achilles Heel for these tours is the weather as the carriers anchor out
in Gage Roads some mile or so offshore. A ferryboat takes you from the passenger
terminal in Fremantle Harbour out to a pontoon that is secured to the stern of
the ship. If the wind is up and a swell is running coming alongside and
transferring to the pontoon is difficult to say the least. Fortunately, the
weather on the day my tour was superb and the transfer was not a problem.

USS
John C. Stennis
(Click to Enlarge)

Once you arrive on the ship you scale the first of the many, many ladders
that you will negotiate during the tour to the hangar bay where you are greeted
by the Ship's Public Affairs Officer (PAO). The PAO welcomes you aboard and
provides a brief on the ship then assigns each group a Tour Guide. These
formalities over with, your Guide shepherds you up more ladders to the flight
deck and the waiting aircraft.

Believe it or not, there is some semblance of order in the seemingly chaotic
world that is the flight deck and the aircraft communities each have their own
territory. Generally, the F/A 18s of the attack squadrons own the forward bow
area, the S-3s of the ASW world are next spreading to roughly the forward part
of the island. The E-2s, EA-6Bs and H-60s own the middle part of the flight deck
with the stern area being the domain of the F-14s. The deck tractors, APUs,
crane and "everything else" is generally stacked-in-close to the
island. Having said all that though each ship does it a little different and no
two ships are the same. So, what were the colours and markings of the aircraft
of CVW 9 like?

CVW 9 is made up of nine squadrons:

VF-211 Checkmates, VFA-146 Argonauts, VFA-147
Blue Diamonds

VMFA-314 Black Knights, VAW-112 Goldenhawks,
VS-33 Screwbirds,

VAQ-138 Yellow Jackets, HS-8 Eightballers, Det
4 VRC-30 Providers

VF-211
Checkmates

All the Tomcats of VF-211 were the older "A" models. These aircraft
have been around for a long time and are showing their age. All were painted in
the standard TPS scheme for the Tomcat with few detail differences between each
machine.

Their CAG aircraft bore full colour red and white checkerboards on the rudder
(outboard only) with red white and blue stripes to the top and bottom of the
vertical stabilizers again, outboard surfaces only. The words "BOOLA-BOOLA"
were painted on the top of the vertical stabilizers with USS John C Stennis
across the bottom. Interestingly, and unusual was that a second aircraft, 101,
was also painted up in full colour markings.

"Bomb logs" were stenciled on the noses of some aircraft. I was
told enjoy them now as that they would be painted over as soon as the squadron
got back to the US.

The remainder of the Checkmates aircraft had the same basic squadron markings
but they were all painted in shades of grey. The centerline auxiliary fuel tank
of all aircraft bore the title Checkmates painted on in large black letters.
Unfortunately, I missed getting even one photo of these tanks.

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CAG
Aircraft's Tail

Bomb Log

CO's Aircraft
Tail

VFA-146
Blue Diamonds

Unfortunately, the Blue Diamonds CAG aircraft was parked on the starboard
side of the flight deck with the tail hanging out over the catwalk so getting
pictures of it was not easy.

Nothing tricky here. All the Blue Diamonds aircraft were "C" models
and all were finished in the standard TPS scheme for Hornets.

Blue and yellow are used as the colors for their markings. Modex codes were
prefixed with 3 and painted in blue with thin black shadow below and to the
right of the numerals. The other Blue Diamonds aircraft were marked in the same
manner as the CAG aircraft but their markings were all in black.

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CAG
Tail Left

CAG Aircraft's
Droptank

CAG Tail Right

VFA-147
Argonauts

Using the modex prefix of 4 the F/A-18s of the Argonauts were again, all C
models.

Their CAG aircraft was parked beside the Blue Diamonds CAG so the same
comments apply in regard to getting photographs The CAG markings were painted in
orange with black shadowing to lower rear of the lettering and numerals.

Other aircraft in the squadron were similarly marked with the helmet and
sword on the vertical stabilizers but painted in shades of grey and black.

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CAG
Tail

CAG Aircraft

Normal Tail

VMFA-314
Black Knights

At first glance the markings of the C model F/A 18s of the Black Knights look
bland and ordinary. A closer look however reveals many differences from their
Navy cousins.

The only coloured markings displayed by the CAG aircraft are the red lances
on the outboard faces of the vertical stabilizers. The 4 prefixed Modex codes
worn by the aircraft are painted grey and are shadowed to the right and below in
black.

The use of grey shadowed with black also extended to the MARINE scripting on
the rear fuselage. All aircraft had the squadron's knights helmet and lance
painted on both sides of the fuselage in grey and black.

Like the Checkmates, the Black Knights also had a second aircraft painted up
in CAG-type colored markings. The CO's aircraft, 401 sported the same red lances
on the tail but also had the Knight's helmet painted black and yellow with two
red plumes to the top of the helmet. That this coloured marking was not on the
CAG aircraft was out of the ordinary

The markings for all three Hornet squadrons of CVW 9 are very restrained when
compared to those of the other Pacific Fleet Air Wings, the black-tailed CAG of
VFA-151 Vigilanties of CVW 2 and the "whole of fin" dragon markings of
VFA-195 Dambusters of CVW 5 being examples.

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Full
Colour Squadron Insignia

CAG Aircraft

Non-CAG
Markings

VAQ
-138 Yellow Jackets

The EA-6Bs of the Yellowjackets were in a surprisingly clean condition as far
as Prowlers go.

The Yellowjackets aircraft bore their hornet on both sides of the rudder in
the same shade of grey paint that the 5-prefix modex, NAVY script and Bureau
numbers were painted in.

Their CAG aircraft on the other hand was a lot brighter with a yellow and
white hornet on a black painted rudder with the "N "of the Air Wing
identifier placed on top of the "G". Colouring is black with a yellow
outline. Wingtip airbrakes were painted black with yellow stripes, something
that I have never seen done on EA-6s of any other squadron.

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CAG
Aircraft

CAG Tail
Markings

CAG Aircraft

VS-33
Screwbirds

The S-3s of the Screwbirds were all in the standard TPS scheme for the Viking
with their 7-prefix modex in black. The remainder of stenciling, national
markings, and the antiglare panel on the nose was finished in the same shade of
grey.

I was disappointed in not being able to find and photograph their CAG
aircraft. If it was on the deck I'm afraid I missed it. The S-3 is going out of
service in the near future so I took as many photos of their aircraft as I
could.

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Screwbird
S-3

Screwbird Tail

Screwbird S-3

HS-8
Eightballers

The HH-60Hs and SH-60Fs of HS-8 were well spotted around the deck which made
photography easy. Most of their aircraft were fitted with an external fuel tank
which bore the text EIGHTBALLERS in black with an eight ball painted on the on
the right of the text. As usual for the helicopter squadron, the modex was
prefixed by the numeral 6.

Unfortunately, their CAG aircraft had the tail folded which ruled out getting
a photo of the bright artwork. which was a shame as it had the squadron insignia
painted in full colour on the white background that covered the vertical tail
surface.

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Eightballers

External Fuel
Tank Markings

Eightballers

VAW-112
Goldenhawks

Now this is more like it! The E2s of the Goldenhawks were all painted in
overall Gloss Gull Grey and were nice and shiny.

The CAG aircraft featured the squadron emblem of a hawk's head in yellow and
dark blue on the outer faces of the vertical tails. The tops and bottoms of both
outer vertical tail surfaces as well as the tops of the two inner vertical tail
surfaces were painted in the same dark blue with a thin yellow stripe. The
6-prefixed modex was in black with yellow shading to rear and behind of the
numerals. A full colour squadron insignia featured on both sides of the fuselage
to the rear of the cockpit windows.

The other aircraft of the squadron featured the same squadron markings as the
CAG bird but in black The national markings of all aircraft were in full colour.

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CAG
Aircraft

CAG Tail

Non-CAG Tail
Markings

Det
4 VRC-30 Providers

Yahoo! Gull Grey and White! The last time I saw US Navy aircraft, other than
a COD, in Gull Grey and White was way back in 1985. Det 4s C-2 CODS were the
cleanest and shiniest that I have ever seen and are a real credit to their
maintenance crews.

It is unusual to see a COD on a carrier when it visits Perth. More often than
not the CODs are flown off before the ship anchors and spend their time at the
local RAAF base out of the reach of enthusiasts. It is always great to see these
aircraft as their markings are a reminder the way that all US Navy aircraft used
to be.

Both of the aircraft that were on deck were marked the same. Tops and bottoms
of the vertical stabilizers were tipped in black with a thin black stripe with a
full colour US flag on the outer faces of the two inner vertical stabilizers.
United States Navy titles in black lettering with VRC-30 underneath them grace
both sides of the fuselages with a full colour VRC-30 squadron insignia just to
the rear of and below the cockpit windows. The two-numeral only modex were
applied to the normal positions on both sides of the nose, the front facing nose
undercarriage door, the tops of the inner flaps and on the rear tailcone. The
"stars and bars were, of course, in full colour.

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C-2 COD of Det
4 VRC-30.
Look at that shine!

Front View

Conclusion

Well, that's the way I saw it. I'm sure that I missed a few things but I
guess that is a good enough reason as any to go and have a look at the next
carrier that comes our way.If you would like more information on the USS John C Stennis and Carrier Air
Wing Nine you can go to their homepage at: http://www.cvn74.navy.mil/
Well worth the visit!